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Indonesians reject Islamic extremism after call by IS leader for Muslims to join his cause

Updated
Sat 16 Aug 2014, 1:55 PM AEST

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The propaganda video allegedly shows Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi identifying himself as Caliph Ibrahim, the leader of the Islamic State jihadist group previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Photo: AFP/HO/al-Furqan Media

A Jakarta-based terrorism expert says there's been a unified backlash in Indonesia against the extremist group ISIS, which is now branded Islamic State.

The group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has called on Muslims around the world to join him to create a caliphate across Syria and Iraq.

Sidney Jones from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict says Indonesia shares the Australian government's concerns about the group posing a significant risk to domestic security.

"There's rejection, absolutely, of both the caliphate of al-Baghdadi, as well as of the tactics used by ISIS in the pursuit of their objectives, particularly executions of other Muslims," Dr Jones told ABC AM.

She says she's surprised by how widespread the condemnation of ISIS has been, ranging from mainstream Muslims to parts of the more extreme Jihadi community.

"We've seen a bigger backlash and a strong backlash against ISIS than anything we've seen in Indonesia over the last ten years. And reaction and the condemnations of ISIS are coming from all quarters."

In a video which emerged in July, a bearded man in a black robe and black turban thought to be al-Baghdadi, delivers a sermon below the black flag of the Islamic State.

Video calls for all Muslims to obey al-Baghdadi

"God has granted your brothers, the Mujahideen, victory and a conquest after years of patience and holy struggle, and enabled them to achieve their objective," the man purported to be Baghdadi said.

"And they have rushed to declare an Islamic caliphate and to appoint an imam [leader], which is a duty for Muslims, a duty that had been lost for centuries that had been absent from reality, making many Muslims ignorant of it.